Chapter 213 Buddha's Tribulation
After asking some basic questions, the emperor didn't say anything, nor did he leave any confidants to discuss the matter. He immediately retired from the court, seemingly without any special intention.

But every word of the emperor was worth careful consideration by his subjects, especially when it came to religion.

The destruction of Buddhism by Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei and Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou was not far away, and now the emperor has a ready-made handle in his hands.

The news quickly spread throughout Chang'an, and all the monks were terrified. Some eminent monks no longer cared about their previous reserve and frequently visited the residences of nobles, trying to find out the emperor's intentions.

The Taoists had two attitudes. One was to actively follow the monks. Although there were natural conflicts between them, they felt that they were all the same as far as the imperial court was concerned.

When monks are being suppressed forcefully, Taoists are generally not allowed to act at large, so they are also doing it for their own benefit.

The other is a negative attitude, closing the temple gate to refuse pilgrims, or directly dismissing the Taoists in the temple to wander around the world. Compared with the concerted efforts of Buddhists, the Taoists are undoubtedly more scattered.

After two generations of emperors of the Sui Dynasty worshipped Taoism and Buddhism, Chang'an had a strong belief in Taoism, whether it was peddlers or high-ranking officials. Therefore, some officials submitted memorials hoping that the court would treat monks and Taoists well.

But Li Jiancheng did not make any comment on this. He did not issue an edict to appease the people nor did he issue an edict to destroy Buddhism. He was still waiting, waiting for the person who should stand up. He only needed to be a referee and did not need to fight in the battlefield himself.

As the emperor himself is involved, it means that there will be no turning back on this matter. Regardless of the pros and cons, he must push through it.

Buddhism and Taoism do not belong to one family or one surname. Even they cannot kill all of them. Moreover, all social classes need something to which they can place their spiritual beliefs. This is inevitable.

After the voices of worshipping Buddhism and Taoism, Confucian disciples began to exert their strength. Zhang Daoyuan, the Minister of Imperial Household, reported: "The great order of the world must follow Confucianism, and there is no Hu Buddhism."

Li Tao, the Imperial Counselor, reported: "The monks are distorting their behavior, violating the rules, changing the rites, and abandoning the orthodox teachings, which has caused the distinction between the superior and the inferior. The king's teachings cannot be accepted. We should destroy their influence and prevent the monks from shaking the country."

However, Xiao Yu, the Duke of Xin'an who had always revered Buddhism, immediately disagreed. During a court meeting, he even said: "Buddha is a saint who can teach and enlighten all people!"

The Grand Historian Fu Yi stood up and said, "Ritual is based on serving parents and ends with serving the emperor. This is how the principles of loyalty and filial piety are demonstrated and how the conduct of a minister is accomplished.

The so-called Sakyamuni Buddha escaped from the city to become a monk, fled and abandoned his father, as a common man he resisted the emperor, as an heir he disobeyed his parents, Xin'an County Duke is not from Kongsang, but now he follows the teachings of having no father and no king, which shows that he is truly disloyal and unfilial! "

Fu Yi's words were as cold as a knife, and they actually made Xiao Yu, who was able to persuade Xue Ju to surrender alone, blush and unable to respond.

Xiao Yu clasped his hands together, bowed his head and said, "Hell was created for this man!"

Fu Yi snorted coldly, then bowed to the emperor above: "Your Majesty, Buddhists are all disloyal and unfilial, shaving their heads to bow to the emperor and parents, working and eating, changing clothes to avoid rent and taxes, donating one penny, hoping for a reward ten thousand times, fasting for one day, hoping for a hundred days of food!

As a result, the people of the world have no fear of the court's laws and do evil things. Once they are arrested, they worship Buddha and repent in prison, hoping to be pardoned. This shows how sinful this religion is and how deeply it harms the people! "

Such statements naturally attracted attacks from all the officials in the court, whether they were Buddhists or Taoists. Most of the high-ranking officials would believe in it even if it was just to show off their knowledge.

“Your Majesty, Fu Yi is a disloyal and wicked man. For his own selfish desires, he wants to put Your Majesty in danger. Monks and Taoists are spread across counties and prefectures all over the world, and they have many believers. Now that the world is at peace, if you don’t appease them, how can you intensify the chaos and cause it?” But Fu Yi ignored them and took out the petition “Petition to Abolish Buddhism” that he had written long ago and presented it to Your Majesty.

After the court was dismissed, the turmoil intensified. Officials headed by Fu Yi were cursed by people from all walks of life in Chang'an. Some people even dared to throw away dirty things in front of the government office.

Two hundred monks from the capital gathered in front of the palace gate to present their advice to the emperor. They took off their robes and placed them on their heads, refusing to drink or eat.

In Tai'an Palace, Li Yuan finished reading the "Petition to Abolish Buddhism" and exhaled: "It is really sharp, but also a little biased. Buddhism is still of some benefit to governing the world."

Fu Yi said a lot in his memorial, but the core idea is "Hu Fo's evil cult should be returned to India; all monks should be released back to their hometowns; those who skip classes should be required to pay rent happily; those who avoid military service should be required to serve with joy, and should not be bald-faced. They should pay homage to the country, be loyal subjects, and guard the ancestral temples. Then the Tang Dynasty will be stable and the people will be free from troubles and serve the emperor."

Such a radical approach was obviously not feasible. Li Jiancheng's purpose in cracking down on monks and Taoists was simple: to take back the land occupied by temples and Taoist temples, and to make these people who did not pay taxes or perform corvee labor to assume their responsibilities as the people under their rule.

Li Yuan put down the memorial and said, "Now that we have the Gao Tansheng incident, we can take advantage of the situation to attack Buddhism, but we should still win over Taoism, and it would be best if Confucianism is in the middle.

My father's political proposition was probably to put Laozi first, followed by Confucius, and finally Buddha, because my surname was Li.

At this time, Gao Tansheng had just been taken to the capital and beheaded for public display. Tang Jian, the pacification envoy of Bingzhou, secretly reported to the court, impeaching Li Zhongwen, the inspector-general of Bingzhou, and the evil monk Zhijue for treason, colluding with the Turkic Khan, and wanting to become the Khan of the South!

The emperor issued an edict for a detailed investigation and ordered Prince of Qi Li Yuanji to immediately escort Li Zhongwen to the court.

Chang'an was silent for a while. They didn't care whether Li Zhongwen really dared to rebel. They were just uneasy when they heard the name of a monk from inside.

They were very worried that the emperor would be furious and implement Fu Yi's memorial, so soon many eminent monks in Chang'an dreamed of the emperor. They said that they saw His Majesty surrounded by dragons and phoenixes, and covered with the sun, moon and stars, and had a sign of great blessings, wisdom and great merits.

On the way to Beijing, the official sent by the court to investigate returned with the result. It turned out to be the evil monk Zhijue who said that Li Zhongwen had five-colored light and a golden dog as guard. He advised him to go to Fenzhou to set up Longyou Prefecture and marry the daughter of Tao in order to fulfill the song of peaches and plums and achieve great things.

The monks were speechless for a moment, but fortunately, His Majesty the Emperor did not do anything but handled the matter as usual and executed Zhijue and Li Zhongwen.

Although nothing happened on the surface, all the monks knew that it would be unreasonable not to be suppressed in such a situation, but they still had to maintain their attitude.

Therefore, the monk Falin from Chang'an responded to Fu Yi by writing "On Fu Yi's Abolition of Buddhist Monks", which aroused heated discussions among the three religions of monks, Taoists and Confucianists.

He said, "I have read what Fu Yi reported. Before I could read it thoroughly, my heart was broken. After I read it thoroughly, my six emotions were broken. Alas! The evil words confuse the righteous, and the devil's arguments are so realistic. It is not enough for the ignorant to hear it, let alone for the gods to hear it!
Your Majesty responded to the will of Heaven, held the map and received the ordination, and was honored by all nations. Your strength in saving the world from danger and your achievements in quelling disasters and pacifying difficulties have made you more powerful than the previous kings and more famous than the previous emperors. You have also kept the Three Treasures in mind and paid attention to the field of blessings. Those who have left home in advance are all grateful for the grace of Heaven.

I humbly wish that Your Majesty is a man of high spirits, naturally noble, brilliant, and broad-minded. He is kind and enjoys doing good, surpassing Dongping, being gentle and easy-going, and even more like Xichu..."

(End of this chapter)